sexta-feira, fevereiro 23, 2007

An Australian peacekeeper has shot dead an East Timorese civilian during a clash near the capital, Dili.The soldier was reportedly defending himself, after being attacked with steel arrows at a refugee camp.

There has been a recent resurgence of street violence in East Timor, and more unrest is feared in the run-up to presidential elections in April.

Canberra has 800 troops in the country, part of an international force brought in after factional fighting last year.

Election fears

The clash happened on Friday morning at a camp near Dili's Comoro airport.

"During the incident, an ADF (Australian Defence Force) soldier was attacked with steel arrows, which are potentially lethal weapons," the Australian military said in a statement.

"He defended himself by shooting the attacker, resulting in the death of one Timorese national."

The ADF said it regretted any incident involving the loss of life, and added that the shooting was being investigated.

However a refugee spokesman said the violence happened when Australian soldiers tried to arrest people guarding a camp.

"They resisted by throwing rocks at the Australian soldiers, who responded with shots and came inside the camp using an armoured vehicle," Jose da Costa told Reuters news agency.

Australia has recently warned of the possibility of increased violence in the run-up to presidential elections in April.

In a statement, it said that areas around the airport and camps for internally displaced people could be particularly dangerous.

The presidential poll will be East Timor's first since it achieved independence in 2002, after 24 years of often brutal rule from Jakarta.

Gang violence

The country was blighted by serious street violence last year, sparked by the sacking of 600 soldiers in March.

This led to ethnic and gang violence which left at least 21 people dead, and caused tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes.

Mari Alkatiri resigned from his post as prime minister due to the turmoil, and was replaced by Jose Ramos-Horta.

The unrest prompted a call by East Timor's government for international peacekeepers, led by Australia, to help restore order.

On Thursday the UN Security Council voted to keep the UN Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT) peacekeepers in the country for another 12 months.

The 15-nation council also approved the addition of another 140 police to the force, ahead of the presidential poll.

AUSTRALIANS have been warned they could face violent reprisals in Dili after a digger shot and killed an East Timorese youth who was firing steel arrows at troops.An Australian soldier shot the civilian this morning after troops responded to a disturbance at a refugee camp near Dili airport. Two East Timorese civilians were also injured.

About 800 Australian troops are in East Timor following a request from the East Timorese Government last year for help to restore peace to the tiny nation after weeks of deadly violence.About 1000 international police are also in East Timor as part of a United Nations mission.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the death was regrettable but the soldier was acting in self defence after the youth attacked him with steel arrows.

The government would not confirm the youth was armed with a bow.

"To fire on someone in self-defence is within the rules of engagement," Mr Downer said.

A refugee spokesman said the violence began after Australian soldiers tried to arrest some displaced people who were guarding a camp.

"They resisted by throwing rocks at the Australian soldiers, who responded with shots and came inside the camp using an armoured vehicle. They dragged out those who were wounded and dead," Jose da Costa said.

The incident is being investigated by UN police (UNPol), East Timorese authorities and the Australian Defence Force (ADF).

Mr Downer said the violence at the airport may have been related to anger about food distribution at the refugee camps, which were set up last year for those displaced by the violent riots.

"There has been a considerable upsurge in violence in East Timor," Mr Downer said.

"The security situation is not good ... we have to be prepared for a continuation of violence in the next few days."

Mr Downer revealed there had been at least three recent incidents in which Australian forces had opened fire when under attack.

Any decision on whether to bolster troops would be made following an evaluation by Brigadier Mal Rerden, who is commanding the joint task force.

The UN security council this week expressed "its concern over the still fragile and volatile security, political, social and humanitarian situation in Timor-Leste".

As a result of the renewed violence, Australians are being urged to reconsider their need to travel to East Timor.

The UN spokeswoman said there had been a spike in violent incidents in the past few weeks, including 50 UN vehicles being hit with rocks in the past two days.

Meanwhile the UN security council has voted to keep peacekeepers in East Timor for another 12 months as the nation struggles to overcome the east-west divide and gang violence.

The UN also authorised an additional 140 police to be sent to East Timor ahead of a presidential poll on April 9 and parliamentary elections due to be held by June.

All ADF personnel as with AFP have under the agreement with the host government , indemnity from prosecution under Timor-Leste law. To say they will be investigated by UN and Timor-Leste auhtorities is nonsense. They cannot porsecute him anyway. The previous blogger is also right in that self defence needs to raised and proved. It is under Australian criminal law a defence to a charge of homicide, to be proved by the accused or a person under investigation. It is always safer for an incident causing death to be subject of at least a pre-trial hearing like a committal hearing or coroners inquest.

Given the heightened tension between ADF personnel and Easterners it is neccessary for the sake of transparency.

Questions might be relevant to self defence including whether or not orders are being followed from a superior which might assist the soldier from proving his innocence.

Given what I have heard some officers, with rank as high as Colonel say about easterners (such as "Alkatiri's dogs", "rebels", "Taur Matan Ruak's militia" etc) the state of mind at the time the soldier attended at the IDP camp is extremely relevant.

This could bring to the open questions such as those about political bias or other influencing non military operational factors. These factors are well and truly public knowledge here in East Timor and little known by your average Aussie.

There is alot which needs to be sorted thorugh before we can just say "self defence". What were the actions of the soldiers prior to the attack? Was the youth acting in self defence protecting hinself and his family in retaliating against the soldiers or others soldiers threat to his or his families life or person? These are all relevant questions.

But what Mr Downer meant to say was: "This boy is a white digger. The other fellow was a half baked savage. He probably desreved it. " As if to say, the right to bear arms and defend yourself, is exclusively that of the powerful and developed. Not the weak and under developed.

Our reporter in Dili, Sean Dorney, says the Australian soldier, who is with the International Stabilisation Force in East Timor, was carrying out an operation at the refugee camp just near the Dili airport this morning.

The spokesman for the International Stabilisation Force, Australian Squadron Leader Ivan Benitez, says the soldiers were attacked and one responded by shooting, which resulted in an East Timorese man being killed.

He says the International Stabilisation Force will conduct an internal investigation and fully cooperate with United Nations police investigating the incident.

The United Nations police have arrested more than 140 East Timorese in the past few days.

There have been numerous stone-throwing attacks on Dili's main roads, with the principal targets appearing to be United Nations vehicles.

Peacekeeping mission extended

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council has voted to keep peacekeepers in East Timor for another 12 months, following a recent upsurge in gang violence.

An outbreak of violence in May last year - sparked by former prime minister Mari Alkatiri's decision to sack soldiers - prompted East Timor to seek the deployment of Australian-led foreign peacekeepers and UN police.

Further unrest in recent months has led the 15-member council to vote unanimously to extend the mission of more than 1,000 police until February next year.

The extension had been supported by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon and East Timor's current prime minister, Jose Ramos-Horta.

Dr Ramos-Horta had pleaded with the UN on February 12 to extend the mission and deploy more police, preferably Portuguese.

The Security Council has authorised an extra 140 police for East Timor, ahead of the presidential elections in April, and parliamentary elections in June.

It says the elections will be a significant step in strengthening democracy.

The UN spokeswoman in Dili, Allison Cooper, says the UN announcement will deliver a sense of confidence to the people.

"Obviously in any post-conflict country, the extension of a UN peacekeeping mandate is some kind of guarantee of increased security in that region," she said.

She says it is hoped Australian and New Zealand Troops working to protect the UN Mission will stay on.

"I can't talk on behalf of what they are doing, but I do believe that they've got no plans to pull out in the immediate future, because they will be providing back up support during the election," she said.

AN Australian soldier who shot and killed an East Timorese youth today acted in self-defence, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.

Mr Downer said the East Timorese had attacked the soldier with steel arrows.

"So, acting in self-defence, in a life-threatening situation, the soldier shot the East Timorese youth," Mr Downer told reporters in Adelaide.

"To fire on someone in self-defence is within the rules of engagement."

Mr Downer said the government nonetheless regretted the incident but it came following growing violence in East Timor over the past week.

The Department of Defence said the incident in East Timor occurred at 8.50am (8.50am) local time (1050 AEDT) when the International Security Force responded to a disturbance at the Dili Airport Internationally Displaced Persons Camp.

"During the incident an ADF (Australian Defence Force) soldier was attacked with steel arrows which are potentially lethal weapons," the department said in a statement.

"He defended himself by shooting the attacker, resulting in the death of one Timorese national."

The department said the incident would be fully investigated by UN police and East Timorese authorities.

About 800 Australian troops are in East Timor following a request from the East Timorese government last year for help to restore peace to the tiny nation after weeks of deadly violence.

They are in East Timor along with about 1,000 police who are part of a United Nations mission.

UN police have arrested 148 people in the capital in increasing violence in recent days.

"In the past three days, the police have arrested 148 people, all related to the security situation in Dili," UN envoy Atul Khare said yesterday.

Seven international UN police officers were injured yesterday in fresh violence on the streets of Dili.

The Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF), set up by Indonesia and Timor Leste, has finally begun to show its face with its inaugural public hearings.

There is apprehension all around as we follow testimonies regarding the violence before and after the 1999 referendum which led to Timor Leste's independence.

There has already been at least one blunt verdict since the first of several planned hearings started Monday: "There will be little transparency and no accountability," wrote blogger James Dunn, a former expert on crimes against humanity for the United Nations.

But there have been other voices, like that of 19-year-old Belinha Alves, who was among the audience listening to the testimony in Sanur, Bali.

Already a witness to much violence despite her young age, she told The Jakarta Post of her high hopes for the CTF process.

"What matters most is a peaceful future. But we also need to know the truth about our past," she said, adding that she trusted the commission would provide the public with this truth. "We will accept the report (of the CTF)," she said.

It is voices from Timor Leste's young generation, like that of Alves, which make us pause and reflect. In simple black-and-white reality, Indonesia was a harsh and often evil colonizer, but with a benevolent face. So much so that many Indonesians were shocked when most Timorese opted for independence. Therefore, those guilty should be punished so we can all start anew.

In the world of Alves and many others, Timorese and Indonesians alike, close relations are shared. This reality, and the obvious need for the young nation to work with Indonesians for its future -- without being blocked by angry, powerful quarters fearing prosecution, led Timor Leste President Xanana Gusmao to make a controversial decision and agree to the joint commission.

Based on the "new and unique approach" to "seek truth and promote friendship", as the CTF's terms of reference state, it was essentially a compromise to the other option of dragging suspected violators of human rights in then East Timor to an international tribunal. Such calls increased in the wake of the acquittal of almost all 18 defendants in Indonesian trials of human rights violations in East Timor.

The formula itself poses a despairing prospect for survivors. Even with the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission as inspiration, experts from South Africa have cited the deprivation of the right to justice for victims.

Pessimists like Dunn, including many Indonesians, do not even expect that the CTF can come up with a credible report, one which Alves and other Timorese would willingly accept -- let alone come close to the credibility enjoyed by Timor Leste's earlier truth and reconciliation commission.

This then is the most crucial expectation of the CTF, as it is not tasked to prosecute rights abusers. A credible report from the commission is the last chance Indonesia has to show the world it is sincere about revealing the truth about the 1999 violence in East Timor, and not, as cynics would argue, only rushing to achieve friendship, while forgetting the past.

The world has already given us an opportunity to enforce our own laws on human rights, but since the results of the 2002 trials its trust has almost vanished.

Failing to produce a credible report would leave no other option but to bring suspected violators of human rights to an international tribunal.

Achieving justice for all victims will be arduous. But the minimum expectation is that victims will have their stories told.

A credible result of the CTF would thus be at least an account of what happened, according to the nearest possible truth, free from narrow nationalist inclinations and the instinct to protect the esprit de corps of Indonesia and its military.

This is where concerns lie, in whether Indonesians, particularly those in the CTF, have such freedom. Another concern is whether Indonesians themselves are ready for the truth, as they were rarely exposed to other versions of what their supposedly heroic, selfless soldiers were doing in the territory.

As a CTF member and retired Indonesian general has said, a compromise that is part of reconciliation requires sacrifices. On Indonesia's part, as Agus Widjojo has said, this might mean apologizing to the Timorese for mistakes in the past, including apologies from the Indonesian Military.

This is far from a commitment to bring justice to victims, but it is a start.

I was at the Dili Airport on the 26th October 2006 to pick up my relative. The airport was closed following clashes around the airport the previous day. While at the airport I met a friend who had been living at the IDP camp. He explained to me that it was difficult for those living at the camp because many of them were unable to travel outside of the camps into Dili to study, work or to buy food etc. because they were being targeted.

They say that they are constantly being surveyed by groups outside of the camp. The IDP camp is located south of the airport. On the day of the attack on the camp, it came from all the directions the southern from the main road, the eastern from the comoro river side and the western from the tasi tolu side.

With the youths from the camp coming under great pressure to sustain the attack on the camp, things where made worse when the Police shot tear gas into the camps. This led to camp residents including women, children and elderly running into the airport and many reacted angrilly stoning the airport.

This is not an isolated incident, the Australian Police within UNPOL have been accused of heavy handed tactics including shooting gas cannisters into other IDP camps where women and children also reside during clashes between IDP'd and attacking groups. I am not suprised that now the ISF may have caused the death of a Timorese youth.

The Australian presence have much more to destabilise Timor than to provide security. More houses were burned down when Australian soldiers were present in the streets of Dili, than during the clashes of May.

Alfredo one of those responsible for the crisis and wanted for murder has been given preferential treatment by the ISF.

Many of the groups involved in the clashes are sponsored by anti-Fretilin individuals or groups but Australian officials like the Australian media seem to focus their attention on undermining F.

It is unbelieveable when most Timorese know about these facts and the Australians are ignorant of it.

I believe that the Australian forces were required but I hope in the interest of Timor they are not taking sides.

Singapore, February 22 (Reuters) - Jose Ramos-Horta, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who took over as East Timor's prime minister last year, said on Thursday he would run for the presidency in an election due in April, Al Jazeera English reported.

"After a lot of hesitation, I have decided to run for the presidency," Ramos-Horta told the Qatar-based broadcaster in an interview. "I will announce it shortly. Many people have come to me, barefoot, illiterate from around the country, some without even my agreement began collecting signatures for me," the premier added.

President Xanana Gusmao said this month the tiny Asia-Pacific nation would vote for a new leader on April 9 as it seeks to heal divisions and entrench political stability after last year's chaos and violence.

Gusmao, a widely respected former rebel fighter elected president at the nation's independence in April 2002, has repeatedly said he would not run again.

Australia led a force of 3,200 foreign peacekeepers to East Timor in late May 2006 after it descended into chaos following the sacking of 600 mutinous soldiers.

Sporadic gang-related violence has continued in the Asia-Pacific region's youngest country, which has been plagued by poverty and high youth unemployment since independence.

"I have consulted with my president, Xanana Gusmao, consulted with the bishops and I have decided to accept the burden," said Ramos-Horta, according to a transcript of his interview providedby Al Jazeera English.

"But if the people in their centuries-old wisdom decide to vote for someone else, there are plenty of candidates right now ... if the people in their centuries-old wisdom decide to vote for any of them other than me I will probably be the only candidate in the world for any job who will celebrate my electoral demise," he added.

Then East Timor's foreign minister, Ramos-Horta took over as prime minister after Mari Alkatiri, broadly blamed for the civil violence, stepped down on June 26, 2006.

The territory of around 1 million people voted in a 1999 referendum for independence from Indonesia, which annexed it after Portugal ended its colonial rule in 1975.

It became fully independent in 2002 after a period of U.N. administration.

The prime minister of East Timor has told Al Jazeera that he plans to run for president in elections planned for April.

Dr Jose Ramos Horta, a founder member of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor which fought Indonesian occupation, said he had taken the decision reluctantly and at the request of his supporters.

"After a lot of hesitation, I have decided to run for the presidency. I will announce it shortly," he said in an interview broadcast on Thursday.

"Many people have come to me; barefoot, illiterate from around the country, some without even my agreement began collecting signatures for me."

'Reluctant politician'

Ramos Horta said he had already consulted leading East Timorese politicians and religious leaders and won their backing.

"I have consulted with my president, Xanana Gusmao, consulted with the bishops and I have decided to accept the burden."

However, he also said that he would not be upset if he was rejected by East Timor's voters."If the people, in their centuries old wisdom, decide to vote for someone else, there are plenty of candidates right now. It is positive [that] there are so many candidates.

"If the people, in their centuries old wisdom, decide to vote for any of them other than me I will probably be the only candidate in the world for any job who will celebrate my electoral demise."

Popular candidateRamos Horta has long been a leading political figure in East Timor. His political career started when he was an activist against the Portuguese colonial government in the 1970s.After East Timor gained independence and was then invaded by Indonesia in 1975, he was East Timor's representative to the UN, travelling around the world to plead his country's case.

In December 1996, he shared the Nobel peace prize with Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo for their efforts to win independence for East Timor.

Since East Timor became independent in 2002, he has served as foreign minister and minister of defence, before becoming prime minister in July 2006.

February 22, 2007 - The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) said today that the joint Indonesia-East Timor Commission of Truth and Friendship (CTF) can not further either goal its name suggests.

“The current public hearings give us no reason to change our view that the CTF is meant to prematurely close the books, leaving those who masterminded Indonesia’s campaign of violence in East Timor in 1999 unrepentant and untouched,” said John M. Miller, National Coordinator of ETAN. “A whitewash is not a basis on which to create justice or build friendship between peoples or nations.”

“The truth of 1999 is known. The joint commission's quest for a consensus history will only lead to a watered-down version of events which have already been well-aired. Instead of offering amnesties in exchange for self-serving statements by Indonesian officials, resources would be better used educating the Indonesian public about its military's sordid actions in East Timor and prosecuting the officials who organized and conducted those crimes,” said Miller.

The CTF was formed in March 2005 by the presidents of Indonesia and East Timor in an unsuccessful effort to dissuade then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan from appointing a Commission of Experts (COE) to make recommendations to ensure justice for human rights crimes committed in East Timor in 1999.

“We support good relations between the Indonesian and East Timorese people, but they will not overcome their tragic pasts or build democracies until there is genuine accountability for decades of systematic human rights violations by the Indonesian military,” said Miller. “This de facto impunity has an impact on East Timor today, contributing to the current security crisis which has forced tens of thousands in the capital from their homes.”

“Victims testifying to the commission have been treated insensitively at best by some of the Indonesian commissioners,” said Miller.

Background

Formed over the objections of East Timor’s Catholic Church and both countries’ civil society organizations, the CTF is to establish a "shared historical record" of human rights violations before and after Timor-Leste's independence ballot in 1999. It can recommend amnesty for those who “cooperate fully” with it and can propose people-to-people reconciliation efforts, but it cannot recommend prosecution or other judicial measures. It has no power to compel testimony or cooperation.

The UN’s COE found that the CTF’s Terms of Reference contradict international and domestic laws, and offer no mechanisms for addressing serious crimes. The COE report recommends that the governments revise the terms of reference as a precondition to receiving international support. Indonesia’s Constitutional Court recently cast further doubt on the CTF’s legal basis. Among other principles, the CTF is supposed to operate under the guidelines of Indonesia’s own Truth and Reconciliation Commission. However, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court recently declared the Indonesian commission unconstitutional, citing provisions allowing for amnesty for serious crimes and conditioning reparations on victims forgiving their tormentors.

The CTF has access to the records of East Timor’s Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation (CAVR), the joint UN-East Timor serious crimes process, the Indonesian National Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights Violations in East Timor in 1999 (KPP HAM) and the deeply-flawed Ad-hoc Human Rights Court on East Timor. However, Indonesia’s military and ministries are not required to open their records, which might actually provide additional evidence.

Unlike the CAVR, the CTF will not address events prior to 1999, when the majority of the deaths and human rights crimes during Indonesia’s invasion and occupation violations occurred.

Rafendi Djamin of the Human Rights Working Group told the Jakarta Post, “It has been agreed by the international community that gross human rights violations did take place in East Timor and the perpetrators must stand trial for that.” East Timor’s Judicial System Monitoring Programme has said that any amnesties would likely be the result of “a high level political conspiracy between the Government of Indonesia and Timor-Leste,” undermining the rights of victims and paving the way for further rights violations.

ETAN was formed in 1991. The U.S.-based organization advocates for democracy, justice and human rights for Timor-Leste and Indonesia. For more information see ETAN's web site: http://www.etan.org.